Negative Keywords in Google Ads: Examples, Match Types & How to Find Them

• Less wasted spend. Irrelevant clicks use budget that could go to searches that turn into leads or sales. In budget-limited campaigns, removing waste also frees room for more qualified impressions.
• More relevant traffic. Excluding job, DIY, and off-topic intent improves click-through rate and conversion rate, which makes your reporting easier to read.
• Cleaner campaign structure. Negatives can steer a query to the ad group or campaign built for it instead of letting several compete for it.
• Better signals for Smart Bidding. Fewer junk clicks and junk conversions mean the bidding algorithm learns from the traffic you actually want.

Rule of thumb: do not block a search term only because it has not converted yet. Look at spend, click volume, conversion lag, intent, and whether the term could be valuable somewhere else in the account.

Use these as starting points, not a list to paste into every account. The right exclusions depend on what you sell and what each campaign is for.

Intent category	Example terms to review	When to consider excluding
Employment	jobs, careers, salary, hiring, internship	You sell a product or service and the campaign is not for recruiting.
Free / DIY	free, template, DIY, do it yourself, download	Your offer does not meet free-resource intent.
Education only	course, training, certification, definition, meaning	The campaign is built to convert and these searches rarely lead to a sale.
Unrelated products	products, treatments, or use cases outside your offer	The search clearly refers to something you do not sell or support.
Competitors	competitor brands and product names	Your strategy and campaign goals support excluding them, or they belong in a dedicated competitor campaign.
Existing customers	login, support, cancel, phone number	Customers searching for account help should reach organic results, not a paid acquisition ad.

Context changes the answer. A dental practice usually excludes "dental jobs" and "dental assistant training", but should not block every query containing "cost", because patients research price before booking. A law firm may exclude "free legal advice" in one campaign and keep it in a consultation campaign. We cover legal-specific exclusions in utilizing negative keywords to refine legal ads.

Google Ads supports negative broad, negative phrase, and negative exact match. They work differently from positive match types, and one difference catches out most advertisers: negative keywords do not match close variants. A negative for "job" does not block "jobs". Add singulars, plurals, synonyms, and common misspellings as separate negatives.

Match type	Syntax	Blocks a search when…	Example: negative for running shoes
Negative broad	running shoes	the search contains every word in the negative, in any order.	Blocks "blue running shoes" and "shoes for running". Does not block "running shoe" or "blue tennis shoes".
Negative phrase	"running shoes"	the search contains the exact words in the same order, with other words allowed before or after.	Blocks "red running shoes". Does not block "shoes for running".
Negative exact	[running shoes]	the search is exactly those words in that order, with nothing extra.	Blocks "running shoes" only. Does not block "red running shoes".

How to choose a match type

1. Start with the actual search term and the reason it is unwanted.
2. Use exact when the problem is one specific search, such as a query a different ad group should handle.
3. Use phrase when a multi-word intent should be blocked wherever it appears, such as "free trial" for a product with no trial.
4. Use broad for single words that are irrelevant in every context, such as "jobs" for a retailer.
5. Before you apply it, check whether the negative would also block a keyword you bid on or a search that has converted.

Add each negative at the narrowest level that solves the problem. A wider scope saves time but raises the risk of blocking traffic a different campaign needs.

Level	Use it for	Check before you add
Ad group	Steering a query to the right ad group, or excluding a term irrelevant to one theme.	Is the query relevant to another ad group in the same campaign?
Campaign	Exclusions that apply to every ad group in the campaign. Up to 10,000 negatives per campaign, including Performance Max.	Does any ad group in this campaign need that traffic?
Shared negative keyword list	Reusable rules across similar campaigns. Up to 20 lists per account, 5,000 keywords per list.	Will the list block a valid product, service, or location in one of the campaigns it applies to?
Account level	Terms you never want to show for anywhere, such as brand-safety terms. Up to 1,000 negatives, applied to Search and Shopping inventory across Search, Shopping, Performance Max, and other campaign types.	Is the term truly irrelevant to every campaign, including future ones?

In Performance Max, negative keywords apply only to Search and Shopping inventory, not to Display, YouTube, or Gmail placements. Use brand exclusions to stop PMax from bidding on brand terms; they are a separate setting from negative keywords.

Google publishes these limits in its account limits help page and changes them from time to time; check the sources below before planning a large list.

1. Open the search terms report. In Google Ads, go to Insights and reports, then Search terms. Look at the queries that actually triggered your ads, not just your keyword list. Google hides some low-volume terms for privacy, so the report shows most of your spend but not every query.
2. Sort by impact. Sort by cost, then filter for terms with clicks and no conversions. Use a date range longer than your conversion lag so recent clicks have had time to convert.
3. Group queries by intent. Tag each term as relevant, irrelevant, or needs review, using the intent categories above.
4. Look for n-gram patterns. Break queries into one-, two-, and three-word sequences and total the cost and conversions for each. A word like "free" may cost little in any single query but a lot across hundreds. N-grams find those patterns.
5. Check for conflicts. Make sure the new negative does not block a keyword you bid on, a search that has converted, or a query another campaign is built to capture. Google Ads flags some conflicts in Recommendations, but not all of them.
6. Choose match type and level. Use the narrowest scope and match type that fixes the problem.
7. Apply, document, and recheck. Note why each negative was added. After two to four weeks, compare clicks, conversions, and cost per conversion against the same period before the change.

Automate discovery, not judgment. Scripts, n-gram reports, and conflict checks can surface candidates quickly. A person should still check intent, past conversions, and campaign exceptions before applying a broad or account-wide exclusion.

• Pasting a generic list of hundreds of negatives without checking whether each term fits the business.
• Using negative broad for words that appear in both good and bad queries, such as "cheap" for a discount retailer.
• Assuming negatives cover plurals and misspellings. They do not.
• Applying one shared list to campaigns with different products, locations, or intent.
• Adding a negative that conflicts with an active keyword, so the keyword quietly stops serving.
• Deciding from a handful of clicks or before the conversion window has closed.
• Building a list once and never reviewing new search terms or old exclusions again.

On the accounts we manage, negative keyword work follows a schedule instead of happening only when spend spikes. Higher-spend campaigns get a weekly search terms review; lower-volume campaigns get a monthly one so decisions rest on enough data.

We keep three types of shared list: a short account-wide list for terms that are never relevant, lists for each vertical (for example, dental jobs and training terms for dental practices), and campaign-specific negatives for steering queries between campaigns. Every addition is logged with the reason and the search term evidence, so it can be reversed if the business changes what it sells.

Our platform's action plan flags waste candidates and overlapping search terms each week; a strategist approves each exclusion before it goes live. If you want a second pair of eyes on your search terms, our PPC management team can review them with you, or you can start with a Growth Gap Audit.

What are negative keywords in PPC?

They are terms that prevent your paid ads from showing on searches that do not fit the campaign's offer or goal. They exist in Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising, and most other search ad platforms.

Do negative keywords block plurals and misspellings?

No. Unlike positive keywords, negatives do not match close variants. Add singular and plural forms, synonyms, and common misspellings as separate negatives.

What is the best match type for negative keywords?

There is no single best type. Exact is narrowest, phrase blocks a specific word sequence, and broad blocks any search containing all the words. Use the narrowest type that solves the problem.

What is a negative keyword conflict?

A conflict happens when a negative keyword blocks one of your own active keywords, so that keyword cannot serve ads. Remove or narrow the negative, or move the keyword to a campaign where the negative does not apply.

Can you add negative keywords to Performance Max?

Yes. Performance Max supports campaign-level negatives, account-level negatives, and shared lists. They apply only to Search and Shopping inventory.

How often should I review negative keywords?

It depends on spend and volume. Higher-spend campaigns usually benefit from a weekly search terms review; lower-volume accounts may need a monthly review so each decision is based on enough data.

• About negative keywords — Google Ads Help
• About negative keyword lists — Google Ads Help
• About account-level negative keywords — Google Ads Help
• Negative keywords in Performance Max campaigns — Google Ads Help
• About your Google Ads account limits — Google Ads Help
• Fix issues with negative keywords — Google Ads Help

Sources accessed November 4, 2026.